


Jade's Not-Dating Crisis

by Switch_Statement



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, F/M, Happy Ending, Mistaken Identity, Romance, Sneakiness, Teenage Dorks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 19:00:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28765188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Switch_Statement/pseuds/Switch_Statement
Summary: When Sinjin posts an unfortunate picture online, Beck accuses Jade of cheating on him.  With Jade unable to convince him otherwise, it's up to Tori to clear her name, by any means necessary.
Relationships: Beck Oliver/Jade West
Comments: 1
Kudos: 22





	Jade's Not-Dating Crisis

Once upon a time, Jade would have refused to stay after school just to watch two people get all sappy onstage. But Andre and Tori had certain persuasive qualities the kids at her middle school severely lacked. After a few minutes of tense back-and-forth after Sikowitz's class, they'd brought her to a grudging agreement that she'd meet them in the auditorium after school that day.

Andre and Tori needed extra practice for a big scene in Hollywood Arts' upcoming original play, _Redemption of the Soul Eater_. Since it required a side character, they needed a third person to do nothing more than read lines. Jade fit the bill perfectly, but that was as far as she was going- no amount of money could force her to act out the trashy romance spilling from the others' lips.

For instance, as Andre (who'd been cast to play the titular soul eater, Ezuma) entered the scene in his grotesque costume, his first line was, "Oh, Natasha, please come out! I can't bear to spend another second apart from you!"

Tori had been cast as Natasha, a teenage girl who was Ezuma's human love interest. Throughout the play, the two of them would have to defy both Ezuma's order from the demon underworld to, well, eat her soul, as well as the efforts of Natasha's childhood bully to break her spirit. Andre and Tori both found the play a wondrous mix of inspiring and haunting.

Jade found it disgusting.

"I have arrived," Tori said as she came into view in her "costume" (which really was nothing more than a black wig and her normal clothes, but the audience didn't need to know that). "Don't worry, soon we'll never have to leave each other again!"

Here, Jade was supposed to read the lines for Natasha's bully, since she would have entered the scene here, but she instead did nothing. Soon, it lapsed into an awkward pause that lasted for almost ten seconds before Andre broke it. "Okay, Jade, what's the deal? You did this fine for the last half hour, it's not like you can't!"

Jade chose not to answer that question. Her tone ominous, she said, "I have to go to the bathroom. Just do some work without me."

Tori objected, saying, "Why do you have to…"

Jade flipped out. "Because this romance is so putrid it makes me want to hurl!" She stormed off the stage, muttering obscenities under her breath as she did.

Once Jade was out of sight, Andre gave Tori a look. "Is it bad that I kind of expected that to happen?"

"Meh, not really. I'm surprised she lasted half an hour," Tori said. "We all know there's only so much lovey-dovey stuff Jade can put up with before she blows her top. Anyway, you want to take five and see if she comes back?"

"I'm down for that," Andre said. "I need something to drink, it must be a million degrees in that Soul Eater costume. You want to hit the vending machine for some Wahoo Punch?"

"Sounds great," Tori said. With that, the two of them strode out to go buy themselves a sugary, refreshing drink.

* * *

After taking a break far longer than five minutes to see if Jade would come back, Andre and Tori concluded that she'd gone home so she didn't have to watch one more second of romance.

"Whatever," Tori said. "Let's just do the parts of the script that don't require her. We have a few more days to practice." She grabbed the book that Jade had left behind, flipping through it to find where she wanted before stopping at a seemingly random point. "Page 117. Last scene before the big climax. I have the first line, so you should be able to figure it out from there."

"Okay, but one more thing," Andre said. "Can I do this part _without_ the costume? I don't want to step in that thing again until the show if I can help it."

"I get it," Tori said. "Now, let's move the costume out of the way and get into position." The two of them worked together to push the monstrosity off to the side (despite Andre having worn it earlier, the thing was surprisingly heavy), and they positioned themselves for the scene. Then, Tori put her wig back on, got into character, and started to speak.

"You- you didn't eat her soul! That's- that's-"

"I thought it was impossible as well. But I guess not," Andre countered, making sure to pitch his voice to match what he'd be doing on opening night. "You must be rubbing off on me."

"No, it's not me this time," Tori countered. "You could resist the urge. That was your decision, no one else's."

Andre got a dreamy look in his eyes, although how much of that was acting and how much was actual romance blossoming was anybody's guess. "I'm going to make another decision now. I've been holding back forever, but I believe the time has come. Natasha, I want you to kiss me."

Tori smiled. "Funny. I was thinking the same-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Andre pulled her in and kissed her, just like the script called for. Even though it was all just a facade, a show put on for the benefit of a nonexistent audience, it felt deep, passionate, perfect.

It was also in full view of Sinjin, who had been hidden in the rafters to watch them practice for at least the past hour. The scene captivated him so much, he just _had_ to take a picture. Luckily for him, he took it with his PearPhone, which didn't have a flash. Therefore Andre and Tori never noticed it.

"Jackpot," he whispered under his breath. "As soon as I post this online, hello, popularity!"

He bolted off the catwalk as fast as possible to ensure he could avoid any prying eyes (or Andre and Tori trying to halt his plan). His plan hadn't started yet since he believed that waiting until the next morning would get the maximum effect. He knew that picture was getting posted on The Slap. And he knew exactly what he had to say about it…

* * *

**SINJIN VAN CLEEF'S PAGE:**

" **The Slap" Update:**

I saw Andre kissing Jade after school yesterday! Looks like we've got a hot new romance going on. LOVE IT! Feel bad for Beck, though.

FEELING: Romantic

* * *

The next day was Wednesday, so naturally, everyone had school. Thus, the halls of Hollywood Arts were filled with people as Robbie, Rex, and Cat struck up a conversation right outside Sikowitz's class.

Robbie decided to start things off. "So, you excited for the play on Friday?"

"Yeah," Cat said, "but I'm a little nervous about going. My parents say that if I want to go, we have to bring my brother along."

Rex took that as an opportunity to pipe up. "You mean the freak show posing as your brother?"

"No! He is not a freak show, he's just… special," Cat said. "I'm just nervous about him coming because the last time we all went to a play together, during intermission he got backstage and ripped off one of the actresses' costumes." She paused for a second. "And most of her clothes."

"Yeah, I could see why you wouldn't want that to happen again," Robbie said.

"I really hope not. Especially since she was playing a guy's part," Cat said. "Some of the other actors were… let's just say amused."

Robbie opened his mouth to respond, but he was drowned out by loud arguing coming from down the hall. Once the source rounded the corner towards Sikowitz's classroom, it became pretty clear that Robbie and Cat were in for a bad time if they didn't move. But they just couldn't; it was like watching a slow-motion train wreck, they couldn't pull their eyes away.

Beck and Jade had just arrived, in the midst of one of their usual screaming fights. Usually, they happened at least once a week, and whenever they did, everyone else was usually subjected to it as well. They were never pleasant, they were never brief, and it would usually end with one of them (usually Jade) storming off in a rage. This one, unfortunately, seemed bad even by their standards.

"Jade," Beck yelled, "just give me a straight answer! Why the hell were you kissing Andre after school yesterday?"

"Again," Jade snarled, "I wasn't! It was Tori with a black wig! They were practicing for the play and it had a kiss scene!"

"Then why would Sinjin post on the Slap explicitly stating that the two of you were kissing and how he felt sorry for me? Sinjin might be weird, but he never struck me as a liar," Beck said.

"Don't make me laugh," Jade said. "Sinjin is nothing but a lowlife creeper who would do absolutely anything to get popular! Last week, he hijacked the intercom during morning announcements to say how awesome he was! And yet you're trusting him over me when I've been your girlfriend for-?"

"I'm trusting him because it makes sense," Beck said, cutting her off. "I know you stayed after school yesterday with Andre and Tori so they could practice. You three were the only ones in the auditorium, otherwise you wouldn't have been on stage. And furthermore, if Andre was kissing Tori, not you, why is Andre out of costume?"

"Have you seen that thing?" Jade's potent combination of fury and disbelief was only getting worse by the second. "I had to help the two of them get that thing onto the stage, it weighs like a hundred pounds. And it's not like it's integral to the dialogue or anything, it's just a costume! It's very easy to do the play without it, you know!"

"Uh, Jade?" Robbie wasn't usually the kind to get on Jade's bad side, but considering their argument had gotten so loud that just about every student in the hall (along with a handful of teachers) were staring, he wanted to shut it down before it devolved into a fistfight or shattered the windows. "I just wanted to say-"

"What he wants to say is that he thinks Jade's excuses are more see-through than that black dress she wore last Wednesday," Rex said.

"Rex! Not now," Robbie hissed, but it was too late. If Jade hadn't been preoccupied with trying to reason with Beck, she'd probably have decked him in the face, witnesses be damned. As it was, she merely turned to face him.

"Leave. Now," she hissed. "Before I decide my energy would be better spent beating you to a pulp."

Robbie didn't need any prompting. He, along with Rex, had already disappeared down the hall by the time she'd finished her sentence, leaving only Cat, who'd frozen on the spot, too terrified to move.

"You're not giving me anything that's proving your point, Jade," Beck said.

"That's because I wasn't there, and didn't see it happen," Jade said. "If you really want to find out what happened, go find Andre and Tori and ask them! They'll tell you what happened, and then we can all move on."

"I can't," Beck said, "because you could just as easily intimidate them into lying to hide what you did."

Jade laughed a little at that, but it sounded more like a noise of disbelief than one of joy. "And what would be the benefit of that? They'd already believe me!"

Beck was not convinced. "Really? And who else?"

"I'd believe you, Jade," Cat said, her voice quavering.

"Quiet, Cat! You don't count," Beck said. "You're only saying that because she terrifies you!"

No one said or did anything for a second, but then Cat slunk out of sight, trying her best not to cry and still failing.

"Congratulations, you just made the sweetest, ditziest person in all of existence cry," Jade said. "Why don't you just follow my suggestion?"

"Fine," Beck said. "Doesn't mean I have to believe a word they say."

At that moment, the signature opening bell rung, signaling that they both needed to get to the first class of the day. Sikowitz's class wasn't for three periods, so the gang wouldn't be together for a few hours, plenty of time for Beck to calm down a little and Jade to put some distance between her and Beck.

As horrible as this drama was now, it was going to pale in comparison to the anger of their teachers if they let this control their actions for the rest of the day.

* * *

That day, Sikowitz's class was the last one before lunch, so everyone who filed into it was in a less-than-spectacular mood. For the record, hungry teenagers don't make the best actors.

"Alright," Sikowitz said as soon as the bell had rung. "Today, we're going to go over an important aspect of many works, including the one that will be performed this Friday…" He winked when he said that. "Romance is one of the hardest things out there to do right when you're acting. Sure, it's easy to get the superficial stuff right, but all the little nuances that go into a relationship are hard to recreate, and a trained eye will notice if this isn't there."

"That makes perfect sense," Beck said, glaring at Jade as he did.

"Now, I'm going to select two of you at random to pretend to be in a relationship, and I'll critique you as you act," Sikowitz said, pulling out a hat in which he'd put everyone's name. After yanking two slips out, he unfolded them and read the names he'd written down. "Beck, and… Tori."

"Go figure," Beck said, stepping into the area they did class performances in. Tori followed behind him, unsure of what was going on since she'd missed Beck blowing up at Jade earlier and none of her friends dared to tell her yet.

"Now, you may call each other by whatever names you choose, so long as they're appropriate," Sikowitz said. "And... action!"

Tori got into character right away. "Arnold, thanks for spending the night with me." However, as the snickering started up in the audience, she chose to briefly break character and shut them up. "No, not like that!"

"Stay in character," Sikowitz said.

Beck started everything back up again, and the right way this time. "No problem, Carla," he said. "Nice to have a girlfriend you can rely on."

"Oh, please. Don't worry about it," Tori said.

"It's fine. If anyone should be worried about that, it's you, Carla," Beck responded. "Because sometimes, I feel like you don't worry enough about anything."

"I worry a lot, Arnold," Tori said, her voice softening a little. Then, she moved closer to Beck, smiling as she did.

"I worry about you."

Then, the sounds of sniffling came from the audience. Tori looked around, half expecting to see Cat breaking down from their performance (which wasn't even that gripping by Tori's standards, but she was always like that), but it turned out to be coming from Jade of all people. Before anyone could ask about it, Jade got out of her seat, exited the room, and loudly slammed the door shut behind her.

Before either of the actors could say another word, Sikowitz yelled, "Cut!" Turning to face Andre and Tori specifically, he said, "Stuff like that is going to happen all the time when you have actual performances. You can't use it as an excuse to get out of character and you can't freeze up when you see it!"

"Okay, I get it," Tori said, "but shouldn't someone check on Jade? I haven't seen her break down this hard since she found out that the sequel to _The Scissoring_ got canceled."

Sikowitz took a while to respond, but he eventually nodded. "I guess. Why don't you do the honors? We can start a new scene while we're waiting. I'll just draw two new slips."

While that wasn't what Tori had hoped for, she knew the best option here was for her to step up. If Jade had gone to the bathroom, the only place where a girl could get some guaranteed privacy, none of the guys would be able to reach her, and if they sent Cat, the odds of her coming back crying (or not coming back at all) were near 100%.

"Okay, I'll go," Tori said. Right afterward, she quietly slipped out the door, heading for the nearest girls' bathroom.

* * *

Jade hadn't been in that bathroom. Or the next one. Instead, she'd chosen to go to essentially the opposite end of the school for her bathroom. It was made to service an isolated wing of classes, half of which were empty as Tori walked past them. Fortunately, that meant the bathroom was surprisingly clean, as it was hardly ever used. However, now the bathroom had Jade as an occupant.

The crying had been pretty obvious- it was loud enough that Tori could hear it outside the door. Gingerly, Tori pushed the door in, saying, "Jade? Hate to interrupt you, but Sikowitz _really_ wants you back in class…"

Jade stopped crying in a heartbeat, turning to face Tori. And no matter how much she tried to hide it, she didn't just look sad. She looked _broken._

"Great," Jade said. "Can _something_ go right today?"

"Well," Tori said, "what's going wrong now?"

After several seconds of silence, Jade's frown turned into a snarl that looked absolutely terrifying before she spoke up again. And when she did, it was in this childish, high-pitched voice that made Tori shiver a little. "Why do you think I came here?"

Tori probably shouldn't have answered, but she did anyway. "To- to get privacy?"

"Exactly," Jade responded, her tone turning dark and bitter. "And then you had to come along and ruin that, too!"

"Uh, Jade?" Tori interjected here, even though she knew she was just digging a deeper and deeper hole she'd have to climb out of later. "I just wanted to know what was wrong…"

"Why? It's not like you should care," Jade said. "It's not your problem! Can't you keep your pretty little nose out of other people's business for once?"

"Well, it did cause you to storm out and halt the entire class while we tried to figure out what happened, so it kind of is my problem," Tori said. "Look. You don't have to tell me a thing, it's not like we're the closest of friends. If it's a real problem, you're probably better off talking to Beck."

Then, Jade broke down crying again, causing Tori to take a step closer. It didn't take a genius to jump to the conclusion that Beck had something to do with this.

"Jade?" Tori braced herself for Jade's reaction, hoping that her next move wouldn't be to pin her against the wall. "Did he…"

"No," Jade gasped out. "But that (several words that Tori hadn't even heard before but assumed were pretty nasty cuss words) Sinjin somehow convinced him that I was cheating on him with Andre."

Tori's eyes went wide. "Wait, what? Since when has he thought you two had any chemistry?"

Jade pulled out her PearPhone, turning it on to reveal Sinjin's Slap page. "Since _this._ "

Tori looked at the photo he'd recently uploaded along with its caption, and quickly put the pieces together. "What the… was he spying on us or something? How did he get that picture?"

"I don't know," Jade said, "but does that really matter? And it isn't like I can tell him to take the thing down, "I don't know where he lives and he didn't come to school today. Probably wanted to wait until the heat was off before facing me again."

"You think he knew what he was doing? That it wasn't just an honest mistake?"

"If it was an honest mistake, why wouldn't he be here today? For all his many flaws, he _is_ a pretty good student from what I can tell," Jade said. "And furthermore, he had to be spying on you for a while to get you in that pose, unless he's the luckiest person on earth."

"Okay, that makes sense," Tori said. "Look, let's walk back to class, and let's try to figure out how to deal with this."

The two of them exited the bathroom together, and began heading back for Sikowitz's class, not hand in hand but still a bit closer than usual, so that they could talk about their plans without worrying about being overheard.

Tori has the first idea. "I'll just message him to take that post down, simple as that."

"He won't listen," Jade countered. "If he actually did this just to get popular, which he probably did, he's not going to care about what you have to say. The only way we can guarantee he'll do that is if I threaten violence or something like that. And we can't really do that over social media anymore. Plus, there will still be people who saw and believed the thing! How will we get them to change their minds?"

Tori thought for a few seconds, but then a good idea came up. "I know! We just have to have him write another post that says the first post wasn't true! That's more easily seen and believed. Only problem is, how do we get him to do that?"

They kept moving forward in silence for a few seconds, but then Jade's ambiguous expression morphed into a smirk. "Oh, I have an idea."

Tori was afraid to ask, but she knew she had to. "Really? What is it?"

So, she told her. And, as crazy (and slightly illegal) as that idea was, it was worlds better than being around a depressed and angry Jade for the next few weeks. And to be honest, Sinjin was more than a bit of a creeper- he kind of deserved it.

"Got it," Tori said. "We'll do it tonight."

With that, their conversation stopped, and they entered the classroom to finish up their last class before lunch- even though everything before they launched their plan was going to feel like nothing but pointless waiting now, they had to suck it up and slog through it.

* * *

The rest of the day dragged for Tori, and it dragged a lot. Even the play rehearsal with Andre didn't bring the same spark as it had even the day before. By the time sunset came around, the absolute earliest at which this plan could work, Tori felt like taking a nap. However, she couldn't sleep yet. She still needed a favor from Trina.

Now probably wasn't the best time to ask it, considering Trina was currently performing a very off-key rendition of some pop song Tori had forgotten the name of. Interrupting Trina while she was singing was one of the easiest ways to tick her off, and a ticked-off Trina was far less likely to say yes to anything Tori suggested. However, she'd been doing this for the last half-hour, and the window of opportunity for the plan to work, while not slim by any standards, was not something she wanted to miss.

Finally, finally, _finally_ , one song ended, and Tori managed to start talking in the three seconds before the next one started. "Trina? Can I ask you a favor?"

Trina scoffed at her. "Not now, I'm singing."

"Can you stop singing for a few minutes and just listen? I'm willing to pay you if you do this for me."

Trina stopped dead in her tracks. While she wasn't any greedier than the average person (one of the few positive things Tori could say about her), money was still a good reason to actually listen to her sister. "Okay, what's the big deal?"

"I want you to pay Sinjin a visit tonight."

"You mean the creeper who keeps trying to flirt with me in the cafeteria? No, gross," Trina said, turning her music back on.

"Wait! I don't want you to act romantic towards him or anything. I actually want you to do the exact opposite of that. You'll just need to yell at him about something."

Trina's music stopped again- she clearly had gotten interested again. "Which is?"

"I just want you to tell him to take back his last post on The Slap. I also want you to watch him write said take-back, and make sure he posts it," Tori said. "If you can prove to me you did it, I'll give you sixty bucks when I get home."

"Deal," Trina said. However, before she could leave the house, Tori managed to stop her.

"Wait," she added. "There's one more thing I have to tell you before you go." Then, she reached into her pocket, pulling out the black wig she'd used for her rehearsal.

"You'll need to wear this."

* * *

Like most evenings, Sinjin was alone at the computer, surfing the Web.

His parents were hardly ever home, meaning that while he'd had to become basically self-sufficient, he had the whole house to himself most of the time. With a social life as empty as his usually was, he'd become accustomed to no one being home.

However, if everything went the way he hoped it did, that wouldn't be the case too much longer.

His train of thought was rudely interrupted by someone pounding on the door. Naturally, his next step was to answer whoever was doing that. He hoped for it to be another guy from school, or at worst some guy delivering a package.

What he got, however, was Jade. And she did _not_ sound or look happy.

Sinjin tried to form a coherent sentence, stumbling over the simplest of words. "Oh! Uh, hi, Jade, didn't expect to see you-"

Jade didn't respond to that, instead barging inside, which was her usual reaction. Sinjin still tried to keep his cool, although he failed miserably. "Okay, you can… come in, I guess…"

Jade, once more, didn't acknowledge his words. Instead, in a threatening, terrifying voice, she said, "Take back your last Slap post."

Sinjin shook his head like he didn't understand. "What are you talking about?"

"You know the one I mean! Take it back. Now."

Sinjin took several uneasy steps back but was unwilling to give up just yet. "Please, don't! It's my most-liked post ever, please don't do this to me?"

Jade took the opportunity to start doing what she did best: intimidation. "Ten, nine, eight…"

Sinjin made a noise similar to a rubber ducky when being squeezed and darted to the computer. Jade followed him, still counting, just to increase his urgency as much as possible. Without pausing for a single second, Sinjin opened his Slap account, went to his profile, and deleted the post, crying a little as he did. "There. Happy now?"

"No," Jade said. "Now I need you to write another post that takes back what you said in the first one. Now. Or else." Then, she started counting down again.

"Okay, okay, I'm doing it!" Within a matter of seconds, that was done as well. "Now what? Now what do you want me to do?"

Then, Jade smirked, and… took off her wig. Underneath the mess of black hair she'd had before was naturally-brown stuff, only slightly shorter than before. And something in those eyes looked familiar.

"Wow, Sinjin, you are _way_ easier to fool than I remember," Not-Jade said. It took a second, but then Sinjin put two and two together.

"Trina? Why the heck would you do that to me? I thought you liked me!"

"One, no I don't," Trina said, "and two, Tori offered to pay me for this. Not much extra motivation needed for that."

"Well, before I tell you to get the hell out of my house, I still have to ask this," Sinjin said. "If I saw through your disguise, which I probably should have done, what would have happened from there?"

"You would have had to deal with me," a new voice said. Then, the owner of said voice stepped into the room. It was Jade, and the real one this time.

Sinjin and Trina both jumped a little, but it was Sinjin who talked first. "How- how did you get in my house?"

"You really shouldn't leave your windows open," Jade said. "I've been in here for hours and somehow you never noticed me. I just waited in your closet until I heard Trina come in."

"Oh, that makes total sense," he said. "Creepy as hell, but still makes sense. Now, can you both do me a favor and get out of my house _before_ I call the cops?"

Trina and Jade didn't need to be told twice. Both of them ran for their cars, slamming the door as soon as they got there. They didn't exactly speed off into the night, but they definitely drove much faster to get home than they had on the way there.

* * *

**SINJIN VAN CLEEF'S PAGE:**

" **The Slap" Update:**

I have to take back what I posted yesterday. Jade and Andre are not a thing. Jade wasn't cheating. However, she still terrifies me to no end!

FEELING: Uneasy

* * *

By the time Friday- opening night for _Redemption of the Soul Eater_ \- rolled around, things had mostly gotten back to normal.

Beck still eyed Jade with a healthy amount of distrust but no longer accused her of kissing Andre, for which everybody was glad. While they hadn't totally put this incident behind them, the disgust had mostly cooled off. They'd even come as a couple to wish Andre and Tori good luck for their performance.

"Break a leg, Tori," Beck said.

"What he said," Jade added, pointing to Andre. "And I don't mean it literally this time."

"Aww, thanks," Tori said. "We look forward to seeing you two in the audience."

Suddenly, the director stuck his head behind the curtain. "Guys, show starts in five minutes! Everyone who's not in the performance, get out of backstage!"

"Well, that's our cue to leave," Beck said, taking Jade by the hand and escorting them into the hallway. They walked like that for a few seconds more, getting away from the noise and the crowds of the theater. But once they were in a place where there were no prying eyes, Beck turned to Jade to say one last thing.

"Jade, I'm sorry I accused you of doing that. I should have asked more people before that and not blown up so easily," he said. "I should have known you weren't the kind that would cheat on me."

"It's okay," Jade said. "Just, please don't do that again. The next time I go through that much emotional stress, my reaction probably won't be as subdued."

"Don't worry," Beck said. "That's part of why I like you."

"Me too," Jade said.

They didn't kiss, the time didn't feel right. But nothing was stopping them from walking back to their seats hand in hand, wishing for a bright future for the two of them.


End file.
